Rogers Operating System adjusts to meet challenges of pandemic

09/28/20 11:47:am

RIE board.jpg In true Rogers Operating System fashion, the ROS team has made a number of adjustments to ensure that we’re able to hold Rapid Improvement Events and continue the culture of continuous improvement at Rogers.

While events were put on hold for several weeks, things are now running smoothly thanks to the creative thinking and problem solving that one would expect from the ROS team.

“I do think that our ability to continue having events and value stream analysis events in a virtual space is quite incredible,” says Samantha Klinger, director, Rogers Operating System. “What it demonstrates, is Rogers’ commitment to continuous improvement and continuing to refine and improve our processes for staff and patients. It would be easier to put it all on hold, but we challenged ourselves.”

With a goal of retaining the fidelity and results of an in-person experience, the ROS team quickly pivoted to Teams for communication as well as a new tool—Miro—to use as a virtual workspace.

How technology is used for Rapid Improvement Events

Rapid improvement events typically use a lot of wall space, post-it-notes, and sharpies to record all of the great ideas, solutions, questions Come up during the event. Sam says that with Miro, they can create a virtual wall where everyone has access to this information, including a built-in timer to keep them on track or voting on ways to move forward.

“We’re recognizing that because we can copy and paste, we are able to avoid a lot of rewriting and moving post-it-notes around,” Sam says. “This means we can keep a big picture view of problem areas, and easily create copies elsewhere for gap analysis and solutions.”

Sam notes that feedback has been positive and individuals have “found it incredibly helpful.” Teams do miss the ease of in person contact, problem solving, and networking; however, the thing that people miss most about the in-person event? The snacks.

“It’s silly and funny, but one of the biggest virtual dissatisfiers is that we don’t have snacks,” Sam says.

Kevin Henning, executive consultant through Simpler—an advisor to Rogers Operating System transformation—had high praise for what we have accomplished.

“I think the other thing is that this has really demonstrated the resiliency of the deployment leaders, our ROS team, and the staff engaging in the system on a daily basis,” he says. “Everyone has done an amazing job pivoting and being patient with each other. Compassion resiliency, respect for people – everyone has really embodied the tenets of compassion resiliency and respect for others, which has allowed us to try something without being fearful of what happens if it doesn’t work.”